1. Technical Field
The present invention is related generally to a data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for processing data. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for automatically maintaining business systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Businesses are searching for solutions to information technology problems in the context of overall business performance. It is often necessary, but not sufficient, that the businesses' computer hardware and software operate correctly and efficiently. In addition, decisions regarding managing the information technology resources of a business should take into account the overall performance of an enterprise or an entire company and not just the performance of the hardware or software.
Current systems management applications provide the ability to link information technology resources to aspects of a business, creating collections of information technology resources commonly known as business systems. An important part of managing such resources, and of the business itself, is determining which business systems are affected by a state change in the information technology resources and the impact that a given state change has on the business. Managing information technology resources associated with business systems is an intense manual process, especially when the resources of a business frequently change. Managing business systems manually therefore requires skilled labor and a high overhead expense. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to create a system for automatically and intelligently maintaining business systems in order to eliminate the need for manually maintaining these systems.